I need some advice on High End Car Audio...


I was asked by a friend to figure out what would be a good system to replace the awful standard BMW sound in an older X5. I live in NYC and don't drive anymore, but I remember Wes Phillips had a column a few years back in Stereophile that focused on High End Car audio. Does anyone have any ideas, links or reliable car audio dealers. Most of them sort of remind me of a sale Saturday at J&R Music World...

Regards,
Jody
jml

Showing 1 response by goatwuss

You will need to find a great dealer, who has a real understanding of high-end audio. Cars can sound really, really good, but it is very rare to find a car audio dealer that has a clue whatsoever. Most car audio shop owners have never heard a real high-end stereo, and are in the business of making cars boom and bump.

My best advice is that the installation quality is by far the the most important aspect of any car stereo, so make sure you find someone who knows how to make speaker cabinets out of car doors. My best recommendation, is to not commit to a dealer before hearing one of their car installations, and confirming the "good sound" to them, is anything like "good sound" to you.

I went through 3 car dealers, all of whom promised the world, and delivered extremely sub par, bordering on painful installations. I finally found someone on a car audio forum who really knew what he was doing, and was able to build a car audio system that even an audiophile can enjoy.